Loves Me, Loves Me Not
by motestiva
Summary: The team are out for a picnic when Abby decides they should play 'Loves me, loves me not'. Tiva one-shot.


**A/N: Hi! This fanfic was inspired when a while back, we took some kids at the school I volunteer at to the park. We were waiting for the bus and the kids had picked some daisies and started to do the "He/she loves me, he/she loves me not" thing. It was cute and gave me a little inspo for a Tiva fic. I haven't seen anyone do this before, but if they have I had no clue lol. Anyway I don't really know what season this takes place in, I guess just any season after season 6/7. **

**Also sorry if it's a bit cringy. I'm not a big fan of cringy cliché stuff so I tried to make the cringe levels as low as possible despite the cringy concept, but hey, it was Abby's idea to play the game and we all know what she's like. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

It was a warm, summers afternoon in Washington DC. Tony, Ziva, Abby, McGee and Palmer had all gathered in a nearby park after Abby had insisted they should go out for a picnic after the case was over. After much hesitance by mostly Tony and Ziva and pleading puppy-eyes from Abby, everyone had finally agreed to join.

It was not that Tony and Ziva didn't like to hang out with the team. In fact, they very much enjoyed spending time with their… family, as such. They just never knew how to act, or what to say when they were so close to them all… and each other. It was not like they were dating or anything; hell, they barely knew how they felt about each other, let alone admit whatever they were feeling. Yet, they both knew that there was this extreme attraction between them that they could not control, and it was visible in the way they acted and spoke with each other.

After the group had settled down and were halfway through their lunch, Abby spotted that their blanket was surrounded by beautiful yellow and white daisies.

"Guys, look at all the daisies!" she exclaimed, pointing to the nearest patch of the flowers.

"Mmh," the others replied, not overly interested in this fact.

"You guys seem really enthusiastic," Abby said with a sarcastic tone. "Come on! Liven up! Appreciate this beauty!"

"The daisies?" Ziva said with hint of mock-annoyance in her voice.

"Yes!" Abby said in her usual eager manner. "I know what, let's play 'Loves me, loves me not' after we've finished our lunch."

Tony agitatedly sat upright, his mouth twitching nervously at the idea.

"What is that?" Ziva asked curiously, having not experienced many culturally different games, or anything for that matter.

Tony piped up "It's just this stupid thing where the flower determines if someone loves you or not, it's really not-"

Abby interrupted before he could continue "It's not stupid, Anthony Dinozzo Jr, it's just a bit of fun! You never know, you might just-"

"It's pointless," Tony interrupted this time. "I mean, what's the point, it's not even true," he said with a nervous laugh.

Ziva raised her eyebrows with a smirk. "I thought a few years ago you told me that there was no point in anything, it's just about having fun?"

"Yeah but that's-"

Abby raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

"Fine! We can play," Tony said, exasperated.

* * *

After Abby explained to Ziva what to do, she handed everyone a daisy. Tony and Ziva reluctantly took one, not wanting to let Abby down after agreeing once.

Abby continued to babble on about how Sister Rosita managed to bowl a 260 again, while Tony, Ziva, and the others silently picked the petals off their flowers one by one.

Ziva didn't know what to expect when she started this. She didn't really believe in these kinds of things, but at the same time, she really hoped she would end up with 'he loves me'.

Tony, was feeling the same. However, even if he did end up with 'she loves me', what would he do? Believe it? Brush it off? Do something about it? He didn't know. _It's just a silly little game_ he thought.

After a minute or two, Abby switched topics. "When you're getting near the end, say it out loud, okay?"

"Yeah," the others mumbled.

Another minute went past, and Tony finally spoke up. "Okay, I'm near the end… she loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not," he continued for a while, with a fairly hesitant and quiet voice, contrary to his usual upbeat and loud behaviour.

"She loves me, she loves me not," he reached the final petal. "She loves me." He let out a sigh of relief that it was over.

"Yay! She loves you! Tell us who it is!" Abby said excitedly.

"Why would I ever do that?" Tony exclaimed with a short laugh, rolling his eyes.

Suddenly, Ziva spoke up. "He loves me."

"What?" everyone said at once.

"No! As in, he loves me. The daisy, the petal says he loves me-" Ziva said, trying to clear up the confusion. "The he as in the person I-"

"Oh," Abby said, finally understanding what she meant. "But you had to say it loud when you were near the end, Ziva," Abby stated, stretching out her name.

"Yes but, you guys were talking louder than a herd of stomping elephants," Ziva claimed.

Abby started to talk again about a different subject, but Tony and Ziva couldn't help but glance at each other every few minutes when they thought the other wasn't looking. However, every time, they accidentally locked eyes for a suspiciously long amount of time, as if they were in a mutual understanding… or confusion. It would get to the point when Abby would stop what she was saying and snap them out of their haze.

* * *

That night, Tony sat on his couch with a movie playing on his TV, but he could not concentrate. He was the one who said it was pointless and was not accurate at all, yet he was the most affected by it. _Stupid Dinozzo, get over yourself_ he mumbled into the air.

Though he couldn't help but think, what if it was true? What if she really did love him? The thought itself felt unusual in his mind.

Questions were spinning around in his head like a whirlwind. He didn't know what to do.

Or he did. He got off his couch, wincing slightly at the pain in his back. He turned off the TV and slipped his shoes on and grabbed his car keys. He unlocked his door, and without looking, walked out into the hallway and straight into Ziva.

"Ziva?" Tony said, staggered.

"Where are you going?" Ziva asked, curiously.

"Uh," Tony gulped. "Well, I was actually going to yours," he uttered, scratching the side of his head.

Ziva raised her eyebrows, surprised. That was not the answer she had expected. "Oh. Well, I saved you from a journey then did I not?"

"Yeah, I guess," Tony replied, staring deeply into her brown eyes. He pursed his lips after a few moments of intently gazing into each other's eyes. "Well, come in then." Tony turned around and walked back, trying his best to ease the evident tension.

Ziva followed him inside, locking his front door behind her. She took minuscule steps towards the direction of the main living zone, twisting her fingers in front of her.

"You are allowed to sit down, you know," Tony remarked with a hint of humour, after realising she had barely left the entrance area.

She sighed as she made her way to the couch, sitting awkwardly at the opposite end that Tony had sat on.

After a few moments of silence, Tony spoke up. "Would you like anything to eat, drink?"

"No thank you," Ziva replied, still twisting her fingers on her lap.

Tony watched her attentively. He had never seen her so quiet, so lost for words. It seemed like she could not generate a single sentence, which was not something that happened often to Ziva.

"Ziva, why did you come over?" Tony said, still not taking his eyes off her.

She breathed in, thinking of a logical answer. "I would ask you the same thing, considering you were coming over to mine before you bumped into me," she replied with a small smirk.

"Huh," Tony vocalised, amused.

"Do I really smell that bad?" Tony asked after a minute.

"What?"

"Because I don't think you could get any physically further away from me, considering where you are sat right now," Tony stated humorously.

Ziva sneered at him. Rolling her eyes, she shifted a bit closer to him, closing the awkward gap between them.

"Happy now?"

"More like, now I actually don't feel like I have a random stranger sitting on my couch," Tony responded.

Ziva elbowed him lightly in the ribs.

"Ow, Ziva!" Tony whined, slightly over-exaggerated.

"You are such a child," Ziva said, trying not to sound too harsh. She paused for a few seconds. "And then you stare at me and wonder why I can never talk to you."

"What do you mean?" Tony said, a wave of seriousness suddenly washing over him.

"It is not important."

"No, Ziva. This is more important than anything. We need to talk about this."

"What is there to talk about even?" Ziva murmured, the lump in her throat straining her words.

"Everything. And I don't think you came over here just to say hi," Tony replied.

Ziva's heart was beating out her chest. "The reason why I'm here… it's stupid."

"Well… maybe I was going to yours for the same reason, so we'll be equal."

"I doubt it," Ziva muttered, her head hung low.

"What changed after we had that picnic today?" Tony asked, trying to get Ziva to open up, knowing that that was what she was probably bothered about.

Ziva's breath hitched in her throat. She looked at Tony as she squeezed her lips together, trying to suppress any emotion she was feeling in the moment. Her eyes moved down, but her face was still facing Tony's.

"I… it is funny how the stupidest of things can have an effect on you," Ziva said quietly.

"Let me guess, the daisies?" Tony suggested. "Because me too."

"So, your reason _was_ the same as mine?"

Tony just stared back at her, letting her figure out the obvious answer herself.

Ziva sighed as she shifted uncomfortably on the couch, unconsciously edging even closer to him. She really didn't know what to say or do next. The conversation was going nowhere, so she thought she might as well get up and leave.

Tony, knowing she was probably not going to say anything else for a while, gently laid a hand on her arm.

She watched as his thumb made subtle strokes, and her heart fluttered. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes.

"I'm tired of pretending," Tony whispered.

Ziva's eyes widened as she remembered their conversation in the elevator a few years back.

"Back then… what had you meant by that Tony?" Ziva asked.

"I meant what you thought I meant."

Ziva paused for a good minute. "So am I," she said quietly.

They both came to a mutual understanding of what they were feeling as Tony pulled Ziva into a hug. He wrapped his arm around Ziva's neck as she buried her face into his chest. Tony's chin rested on top of her head, his finger gently stroking her soft hair. She snaked her arms around his waist once she relaxed into his embrace.

After a few minutes, Ziva lifted her head up slightly, her face just a few centimetres away from Tony's.

"So, she loves me, or she loves me not?" said Tony without thinking, bringing his other hand to rest on her cheek. He instantly regretted what he said.

Ziva smiled the smile that could light up a dark void. The smile which Tony loved so much.

She shook her head in amusement causing her to lightly nudge Tony's nose. "She loves you," she whispered with a hint of shyness lacing her voice.

Tony beamed, his eyes softening and filling with love. They gave each other one last look before slowly meeting for a kiss. Their lips touched softly, taking in the sweet moment. Tony's arm remained around the back of Ziva's neck as his other one stayed on her face, trying to keep her as physically close as possible.

They pulled back gently, their foreheads still touching. Tony brought his hand down to her lip, gently grazing the bottom half of it with his thumb.

"Oh, and for the record," he paused as she opened her eyes. "He loves you too."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading. I proof-read this like 182918 times but there still might be some typos etc oop. Anyway, reviews will be appreciated :) **


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